Batman begins is old enough now that moviegoers have witnessed multiple cinematic Batmans hit the screen, but it’s worth remembering: The quality that surrounded Christopher Nolan’s 2005 gritty reinvention was nothing short of mythical. Who could not only take the mantle of Batman, but revive the property to the level of Batman 1989, before the campy streak of Batman forever And Batman and Robin spat it out?
The answer turned out to be Christian Bale, but as many extreme online casting suckers knew at the time and many have forgotten in the last two decades of Bat-castings, there were more contenders – including Cillian Murphy, who made the Scarecrow in Batman begins. The casting shuffle was so well known in the immediate aftermath of the film’s release that, in a rare move, Warner Bros. would release Murphy’s screen test as a bonus feature on the DVD.
What wasn’t well known at the time is how truly smitten Nolan was with Murphy, who was still relatively unknown. The unexpected success of Danny Boyle’s low-budget zombie nightmare 28 days later made Murphy a well-known entity in Hollywood, but not a box office draw or even a logical name for the first villain role in a Batman movie. Those roles went to names like Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jim Carrey – movie stars. But what Nolan realized then was that Murphy had the stuff and just needed someone to anoint his movie star status.
“You came to LA for the screen test and we had dinner at a hotel. I immediately felt a connection,” Nolan said in a new double interview with Murphy Weekly entertainment. “I felt like, this is someone I want to work with, someone who has an interesting take on things creatively [… But] when we had our first conversation, I think we both knew you weren’t going to end up playing Batman.
Nolan screen-tested Murphy anyway, saying he “made executives come down and see what you were doing on set.” When the director pitched Murphy’s risky casting choice as Jonathan Crane, there apparently was no dissent from the people who wrote checks at Warner Bros. killed him. Instead, Crane kept making his way back to the Dark Knight trilogy, popping up in the sequel and then back in rises like a kangaroo judge.
“Love that scene,” Murphy said in chat. “I remember when you called, you said, ‘Do you want to read the script?’ and I said, “‘You know what, I do not actually want to read the script. Just tell me what I do, just tell me what my motivation is, and then I want to see the movie.’ I didn’t want to spoil it. So I just came in for the one day, did that little bit on that great set, and then waited to see the movie. And it was worth it.”
The Batman movies were just the beginning of Murphy and Nolan’s collaboration. The actor would go on to play notable roles in Start And Dunkirkand now leads the director’s new film, Oppenheimer, set this June. Speaking for EW, it’s easy to see why Nolan was so giddy about building his Batman reboot around Murphy, even if he never ended up being his Bruce Wayne — the two are on the same wavelength and just want to make great movies. That’s why Nolan Murphy calls bubbles to play in Oppenheimer as the pinnacle of your career.
“Nobody knew what I was up to, nobody knew what I was doing,” Nolan said. “To be able to pick up the phone, call you and say, ‘This is the one where you carry the film and really show what you can do’, it’s really one of my favorite moments in the movie world, when I had that conversation with you.”